Analyst: Should US banks follow Britain and loosen oversight?

In order to create more competition and spur lending to businesses and consumers, the U.K.'s Financial Services Authority relaxed rules on some financial services firms, The Wall Street Journal reports.

However, the article poses the question, "Should other watchdogs, particularly the U.S., follow suit?"

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Currently, the top five U.S. banks control almost 44% of deposits, compared to 28% ten years ago, the article explains.

To benefit America, the article suggests focusing on specific markets like mortgages that have suffered in recent years.

New entrants would bring the obvious benefits: more choice, cheaper prices and, maybe, better service. But they also would have the advantage of keeping the provision of these vital economic functions within the regulated banking sector, rather than letting them leak away to "shadow banks" such as hedge funds and private-equity groups.

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Articles written by HousingWire Staff are non-bylined, and typically involve press release coverage and aggregation of coverage appearing elsewhere. So who put all these together? Our entire staff does!